I love the fall of the year! Here in Southwest Washington the leaves are shades of yellow, red, brown, and hints of green, mixed in tall forests of evergreen trees. I would put it up against any New England scene. With the fall comes Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday.

The one holiday, when my family all tries hard to come home, there is no stress, or pressure of gift giving or holiday finery. It is just going home. Now that my family is grown up, with families of their own, this day has become even more important to us.

When I was a girl in school, we learned the traditional Thanksgiving lesson. The Pilgrims came, and prepared a celebration and shared it with the natives in the New Land. Well, I've grown up now, and don't really believe it happened the way I was taught. And even though I am most thankful that I live in this land, I am more thankful for present day blessings, and this is what my family concentrates on for Thanksgiving.

It starts with breakfast at our house! My husband gets up and makes a huge cholesterol filled breakfast for everyone! He has always been the breakfast cook, and does a great job! After breakfast, the kids and the Dad's all head for the TV they channel flip between ball games and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. After the parade they disappear for a while and let the big boys watch the ball games. Meanwhile, the turkey is stuffed and put in the oven and other preparations for our Thanksgiving Day feast are set to order.

It used to be that I spent a week getting ready for this 30 minute meal, but no more! The pumpkin, mince meat, and apple pies come from the local bakery now. And my daughter bakes the bread and brings it with her from across the mountains. We made a rule several years ago, that this was to be our stress free holiday! We don't go as far as using instant potatoes or yams from a can, but we do cut corners where we can!

My daughter and I always talk about the big sale the day after Thanksgiving, and we read the ads that come in the paper, but I don't think either of us has ever braved the mob at the mall! We get our last minute gift giving ideas from those ads, and find out each others silly little secret wants.

We have our dinner early in the afternoon, so that the guys can continue to "pig out" and be miserable all day, while complaining that its the turkey that is making them sleepy and nothing to do with the fact that they ate too much. My husband insists on finding the biggest turkey in the store, so he can have turkey sandwiches for a week, but it seldom lasts that long!

After dinner of course there is the pie. We must have pumpkin pie, and we must pile it high with whipped cream. We cannot use that stuff in a tub, we must go on an all out cholesterol binge today! We need to have the real thing, Baby! Just listen to those arteries harden!

What am I thankful for this year? Well, although my health has had some drawbacks, I am a lot better off than a lot of people, and I am thankful for that. My husband quit smoking and I am VERY thankful for that! All of my children are healthy and happy, with good jobs. I'm thankful that we have each other, and the rest of our families and friends. And I am thankful that we have our low stress Thanksgiving celebration together. I wouldn't want it any other way.